GLORIA MUGO
Thika
Summary
GIS and Remote Sensing Specialist with 9 years of experience applying Earth Observation, spatial analysis, and geospatial data management to environmental monitoring, conservation, and climate-related projects. Skilled in remote sensing, machine learning, spatial modelling, and developing GIS workflows that support project planning, monitoring, and decision-making. Passionate about delivering innovative geospatial solutions that translate complex spatial data into actionable insights.
Overview
1
1
Certification
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Specialist GIS&RS
Carbon Projects
Nairobi
09.2023 - 06.2026
- Executed geospatial assessments to ensure the timely review of project opportunities under standard procedures.
- Delivered solutions to customers based on comprehensive research and needs analyses.
- Supported analyses for project development across afforestation/reforestation, REDD+, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity sectors by conducting feature extraction for the production of precise project monitoring data.
- Conducted detailed data analysis, providing insights that informed decision-making and strategy formulation.
- Revised existing Standard Operating Procedures for the analyses of the internal projects portfolio.
- Provided support and recommendations for the implementation of GIS and RS best practices on opportunities evaluation, project development, and MRV processes.
- South Pole - Nairobi, Kenya
Tsavo GIS Officer
Save the Elephants, Elephants and Bees project
Voi
05.2016 - 05.2023
- Led, designed and maintaining a digital data collection, visualization and analysis system using ArcGIS Survey123, Operations Dashboard systems, and generating alerts and calendar notifications from field data collected for actioning using Integromat.
- Landuse-Landcover classification and mapping.
- Satellite image processing and analysis for mapping vegetation for the assessment of elephant-movement and analysis.
- Programming in R for spatial and statistical movement analysis.
- Developing, trialing, thresholding, and combining spectral derivatives for cropland area mapping using object-oriented image analysis.
- Documenting of elephant crop-raid movements using mobile-GPS tracking data within the community area.
- Processing GPS data for analysis and beehive fence management in positioning and designing of beehive fences to our affected farmers.
- Digitizing elephant tracks captured on beehive monitoring sheets by individual beehive farmers, to add to the GPS tracking database.
- Managing the elephant-tracking database, beehive fence monitoring, maintenance, and honey harvesting with the team.
- Aerial wildlife surveys - transcribing audio recording by aerial observers of observed and counted large mammals species and human activities into a database. Merging GPS data of flight lines and observed species with transcribed information for mapping, visualization and analysis.
- Provide technical recommendations and support documentation to aid in GIS process improvement.
- Assisting Masters and PhD researchers with field-data collection of sampling elephant fodder, camera- trap data and taking dung and footprint measurements.
GIS Intern
Oakar Services Limited
Nairobi
02.2015 - 04.2015
- Trained in the use of GeoMedia mapping software, ERDAS Imagine, Mobile Mapper, and ARCPAD using company training manuals and data.
- Step-by-step processing of the training satellite imagery data, highlighting areas that required company review in terms of missing data or faulty instructions.
- Assist with map development requests.
GIS Intern
Martin Luther University
Halle-Wittenberg
03.2014 - 05.2014
- Application of ENVI and ArcGIS software in Landuse- Land cover change detection and mapping from LANDSAT imagery, case study area of Nairobi County.
- Studying the spectral properties of crop fields in Saxony Anhalt, using RapidEye imagery for specific regions of interest, in terms of crop behavior during planting and harvesting season stages.
Education
Master of Science - Applied GIS And Remote Sensing
University of Southampton
United Kingdom12-2019
Bachelor of Science - Geomatic Engineering And GIS
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture&Technology
Kenya06-2016
Skills
- Google Earth Engine, ESRI ArcGIS, ESA SNAP, eCognition, ENVI, ERDAS Imagine, R-Package, IDL, AutoDesk Revit, QGIS, GeoMedia, POSTGIS, GEOServer, Garmin GPS, Microsoft Office suite
- Earth Observation & Remote Sensing
- Spatial Analysis & GIS Modelling
- Machine Learning for Geospatial Analysis
- Image Classification & Feature Extraction
- ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online & Google Earth Engine
- ENVI, ERDAS IMAGINE & eCognition
- Land Use/Land Cover Mapping
- Environmental & Biodiversity Monitoring
- Carbon & Nature-Based Solutions
- Spatial Data Management & QA/QC
- Field Data Collection (Survey123, GPS)
- Cartographic Production & Data Visualisation
- Geospatial Workflow Development & SOPs
- Technical Report Writing & Scientific Research
- Project Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement
- MRV reporting
- Data analysis
- Technical documentation
- Quality assurance
- Stakeholder support
- Technical communication
- Flexibility
- Lead generation
- Project oversight
Certification
End-to-End Google Earth Engine - trained competence in Data Import/Export, Calculating Indices, Extracting Time Series, Supervised Classification, Change Detection, UI Apps, Python API - June 2022
PUBLICATIONS
- King, L. E., Tiller, L., Mwambingu, E., Serem, E., Nzumu, H., Mugo, G., Raja, N., Brennan, E., Kisiang'ani Wanjala, D., Ndombi, V., Leneuyia, K., Williams, H., Lala, F., Pope, F., & Douglas-Hamilton, I. (2024). Impact of drought and development on the effectiveness of beehive fences as elephant deterrents over 9 years in Kenya. Conservation Science and Practice, 6(11), e13242. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13242
- Mugo, G.; Tiller, L.; King, L. Mapping Floristic Composition Using Sentinel-2A and a Case Study Evaluation of Its Application in Elephant Movement Ecology in Sagalla, Kenya. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 5386. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14215386
- Mugo, G.M.; Odera, P.A. Site Selection for Rainwater Harvesting Structures in Kiambu County-Kenya. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science 2019, 22, 155–164, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrs.2018.05.003.
Timeline
Senior Specialist GIS&RS
Carbon Projects
09.2023 - 06.2026
Tsavo GIS Officer
Save the Elephants, Elephants and Bees project
05.2016 - 05.2023
GIS Intern
Oakar Services Limited
02.2015 - 04.2015
GIS Intern
Martin Luther University
03.2014 - 05.2014
Master of Science - Applied GIS And Remote Sensing
University of Southampton
Bachelor of Science - Geomatic Engineering And GIS
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture&Technology